Yahoo Autos Lamborghini Is Headed to Le Mans With a New LMDh Car
One of the worst-kept secrets in sports-car racing is finally out in the open. Lamborghini is building an LMDh car with the intent to enter both the IMSA WeatherTech Series and the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in 2024. For the first time in its near-60-year history, the Italian supercar brand will contest the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In an interview with Road & Track, Giorgio Sanna, head of Lamborghini Squadra Corse, confirmed the company's LMDh car will very much be its own thing. This in contrast to Lamborghini parent-company Audi's now-scrapped LMDh car, which was to be based largely on Porsche's LMDh machine and share the Multimatic-supplied chassis, albeit, with a different internal-combustion engine. "For us, the ideal scenario was, and will be, to have a project developed by Lamborghini," Sanna says, "because we are doing motorsport not just to put a badge on a race car, but to build experience, and to create in-house competence. That's a huge opportunity for us."
LMDh regulations specify that cars must be built with chassis from one of four suppliers—Dallara, Ligier, Multimatic, and Oreca. Sanna wouldn't say which Lamborghini has partnered with, though over at Racer, Marshall Pruett says it's Ligier.
Sanna did, however, offer a crucial detail on the engine. "It won't be a V-12, but for sure will be a pure Lamborghini engine," he says. That doesn't necessarily mean V-10, though. The U.K.'s Car magazine reports that Lamborghini is creating an all new V-8 for the plug-in hybrid replacement for the Huracan, due in 2024, and it's not simply a Urus engine with the wick turned up. Car says the V-8 is good for 10,500 rpm. LMDh regulations are fairly open in regards to the internal-combustion engine, so Lamborghini could be doing something else entirely. If nothing else, don't be surprised if it's not a V-10.
Lamborghini has only been involved in motorsports as a factory since 2009, with the creation of its one-make Super Trofeo series, while Lamborghini Squadra Corse was formed nine years ago. It feels like a lot longer than that, likely owing to the success of the Huracan GT3 race car, which has become a sports-car staple. Given its success with GT3 cars, building a prototype was a logical next step for Lamborghini.
"To be able to compete at Le Mans, Daytona, in the WEC, in IMSA WeatherTech in the top class, it's very important," Sanna says. "It's a big step from what we are doing, coming from GT competition, but something we feel good to do in this moment...we are looking to enter in the most challenging but also exciting period in top endurance competition."
Sanna is also quick to point out that LMDh's relatively low costs made a Lamborghini prototype program possible. Plus, the fact that LMDh cars will use hybrid powertrains also ties in nicely with Lamborghini's upcoming road-cars, which will be all hybrid by 2024. As with the GT3 program, there won't be a full Lamborghini factory team with the company instead selling cars to privateers.
The car should be testing on track early next year, and when it starts racing in 2024, it'll face steep competition. Porsche, Cadillac, Acura, BMW, and Alpine will all have LMDh cars by that point, and they will square off against LMH cars from Toyota, Glickenhaus, Peugeot, ByKolles, and Ferrari. Yes, for the first time, Lamborghini and Ferrari will go head-to-head for Le Mans glory.
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